How long is wait for MRI?

[ksr5377]

My 12 year old daughter fell Sunday night and hurt her knee.  We live in a rural area and I knew from past experiences that the only thing the local ER would do is X-ray it and then, damaged or not, send us home with the instructions to call the ortho center that's about 45 minutes away.  So Monday morning I took her to the ortho where it was determined that nothing was broken but something is probably torn and she needs to schedule an MRI.  The first appointment for an MRI is on June 16th!!!! and then we would go back 3 days later to meet with the Dr. about our results.  So basically we were sent home with an immobilizer brace and told to use ice and ibuprofen and hang out for the next two and a half weeks until we can get more information.  Is this normal???  I'm trying to figure out if this is just the way it is or if I would be better off seeking care further away at the closest children's hospital.  What would you do?

[gardenmom5]

 I would go to your children's hospital orthopedist

Edited June 3, 2020 by gardenmom5

[Ottakee]

I would go to the Children's hospital Ortho if possible.  We have gotten same day or next day MRIs.  I know things are a bit different now but you should be able to get in sooner.   Also a children's orth might be better for injuries for kids, esp that are going through puberty and growth.

[Arcadia]

MRI here can have a wait time for appointments and priority is given to urgent cancer cases and other urgent cases.  The center I go to for my MRI only has two machines and my MRI takes about an hour so the center can’t see more patients even if they want to and they start at 7am to late evening. While I get the MRI report within 24 hrs, I don’t get to see my oncologist until my next scheduled appointment. 
 

I would go to the children’s hospital but they may not be able to get MRI done fast if they also have a backlog of cases. 

[PeterPan]

I would go to the children's hospital anyway, just because children's bodies sometimes need different care. It's at least worth the call. There are also private MRI clinics that might get you in faster. Then you'd take those results to the orthoped you want to see. That's what I did. 

Have you done MRIs before? Another thing to watch for is closed vs. open. I called around for places specifically because I wanted an open MRI. Might not be an issue to her as it's her knee. Guess it would depend how they put you in. It's just another thing to think through. It's kind of a long process, loud, so if she'd feel better with the support of the children's hospital (cute rooms, painted themes, whatever), that's another thing to think through. Maybe at her age she doesn't, but you would know. My ds would definitely need that. 

 

[Tap]

DD had an arm injury in late spring. It took 2 weeks to get the MRI approved from insurance, but when the called to schedule, she got in the next day. The insurance was the hold up for us. The Radiologists were working normal schedules because of emergency cases, and their case load was light because of non-emergent cases being cancelled and fewer cases overall (fewer new injuries with sports/outdoor activities being cancelled etc). 

Same daughter has had 3 x-rays, 3 ultrasounds and 2 CT scans. Non were a problem but they were done in the ER. She has a stomach pain issue that presents just like appendicitis, so each time her pain gets bad enough, we have to take her to the ER for pain meds, which equals unnecessary tests. 

Edited June 3, 2020 by Tap

[WendyLady]

Last year my son had a knee injury, it took about a week to get a referral, then another week to get the appointment, then another week after that for an appt with the ortho doctor to review it. So nearly a month from time of injury to hearing that he had a fairly serious injury (that I had downplayed). Bad mom award!  Don’t be me!!

[QueenCat]

I've had the same day or within a day or two. Only time it's been longer is for more chronic issues, not a current injury.

 

[ksr5377]

Thanks for the replies!  I was able to get an appointment with Children's Ortho this afternoon!  We'll see what their time frame is for everything but in general, I'm feeling better about going with someone who only deals with pediatrics instead of mainly doing knee and hip replacements.

[prairiewindmomma]

My orthopedic surgeon told me I have a two week window from injury to when the bones start to heal enough that they have to re-break them if they need to do surgery.

Glad you got in with a ped ortho!

[City Mouse]

It sounds normal for a rural area. Our hospital doesn’t have its own MRI machine. There is a travel MRI that comes a few days per month. If something is needed more quickly than that, it would require a 2hr drive.